ILSHRM Capitol Visit 2013… a Great Success

Today's post is from Brian Spencer. He is our intern this semester at ILSHRM as well as RogersHR Consulting.  He will be graduating this May from UIS with a degree in Management and focused on beginning a new career in HR.  He has been a tremendous asset to us in promoting the Advocacy Program here in the state and help coordinate projects for the upcoming Legislative Conference this April.  Connect with him on Linkedin

We had a fantastic group of HR folks travel down to the State Capitol Building this year!  This is the fourth year that we have had our spring conference and capitol visit and the first year that it has rained so I guess we should count our blessings.  Everyone took the weather in stride.  Some car pooled over the few blocks and some of us walked with umbrellas as the rain started to lighten up; falling gently but steadily down rather than sideways.  We met in the rotunda for a few group pictures before descending on our individual local official’s offices.  Many of us even used the tunnel, connecting the Capitol building to the Stratton building next door, for the very first time!

Those who visited the Illinois Statehouse as part of the Legislative Conference

We had our plan of attack ready before we left the conference.  For those of us who knew our official’s names we looked up their office numbers for those that did not we were able to look up our district and get the information we needed.  Then we had a quick debriefing on how to get around the facilities and to best introduce ourselves.  Then we set out wielding our fact sheets and business cards in hopes of meeting with our elected officials.  (Appointments are rather difficult to get more than a few days in advance when the legislators are in session here in Springfield.  Their schedules are much more flexible while at the local offices, but then you don’t have the opportunity to see the legal process in action!)  For some, it was our first time to see the state legislature in session, since our fourth-grade field trip to the Capitol - or ever.  Others were able to help direct traffic because of their familiarity with the facility.  It was fascinating to sit in the gallery and observe the bills being debated and voted upon.  I can’t promise that every bill is exciting as the scenes in the recent movie Lincoln, but it is a tremendous learning experience nonetheless. 

I loved hearing so many great stories coming from those that participated in the experience.  It is great to have so many of us to share in the excitement of the day together.  Overwhelmingly, the experiences were quite positive in dealings with the staff as well as some who were able to meet with their legislators that day!  We hope to be sharing some of those success stories in the weeks ahead.  I expect that several of us will have the opportunity to continue these new relationships in the local offices in the months ahead.  As those relationships begin to flourish, we will have more capacity to help educate our legislators in the world of HR and offer our unique perspectives into how potential legislation can impact our businesses and our workforce.  My hope is that by this time next year we will have even more of us to help lead the way for the others who are joining the wave of Advocacy for the first time.  If you have an interest in getting involved

with your local legislators click here and we will get some basic information to you to help equip you to make an impact where you live and work.

Proud like a Papa

My  guess is that anyone who is looking at this is probably at the stage in their life where they have either had a hand in raising some children or are in the process of doing so now.  In doing so, you have the opportunity to watch that child grow - learn - mature and hopefully become a fine  young person.  While along the way you see some low points and also some flashes of brilliance.

As a long time SHRM volunteer I have seen many efforts put forth by volunteers at the local, state and national level.  Like the child, some of the efforts lack some luster, while other shine. Well recently I had the chance to be a part of one of those memorable events.  It is like this; do you remember your child's first hit in baseball, first goal in soccer or hockey, their best game in basketball or the game winning stuff to win a volleyball game.  As you reflect on them, they return with fond memories - and you think I did ok with that child. Well earlier this month I saw one of those flashes of brilliance not from my child but via my local SHRM Chapter and the State Council of SHRM.

Donna Rogers, Cathy Plouzek, Moderator Penny McCarty,
Dave Ryan and J. Reed Roestler. (EEOC Panel  L to R)

On April 10 and April 11, the CIC-SHRM Chapter and the Illinois State Council of SHRM collaborated to put on the 7th (I think) Annual Legislative Conference.   In the past, I feel they haven't always gone as well as we would have like them to go. The attendance wasn't what we wanted it to be, the post events did not turn out as we had hoped. There were suffice it to say, some disappointments. It wasn't bad, some of us had  had hoped for more - kind of like your kid grounding out when he was up to bat, he put the ball in play, but didn't get on base.

Well this year our team hit a HOME RUN.  We got it right this time. Kudos to Tami Ireland - ILSHRM Legislative Director and to Larry Small CIC-SHRM's Legislative Affairs Chair.  Together they teamed up and pulled off an amazing two-day session. This year a larger team was assembled and well utilized. The planning was very meticulous from Mr. Small (he is that way). The results of this were evidenced in the two day affair.

This year I was afforded a small speaking role in the event  on an EEOC Panel, and despite that, the event received high marks from  all of the attendees who completed the evaluations.

Mike Vandervort laying it down on labor news.

Another big thanks goes out to Michael Layman who traveled from SHRM headquarters to speak to our audience on day one.  And although I did not attend (and Mr. Layman reminded me of this), my sources tell me that he did an outstanding job.  And I would also like to throw out a big thanks to my friend Michael Vandervort who travel all the way from Lakeland, Florida to be with us and tell us about (and click on his name to read about this) some new things that are happening on the labor front.

My last thank you and congratulations goes out to IL SHRM State Council Chairs, past and present.  To John Jorgensen and Donna Rogers for getting this conference out of the gate and having the faith and guts to stick with it, and to our current chair Cathy Plouzek for keeping the event growing and moving forward. I am sure 2014 will be even better!




-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

What Is an Advocate and Is It For Me?

Today's post is from Brian Spencer. He is our intern this semester at ILSHRM as well as Rogers HR Consulting.  He will be graduating this May from UIS with a degree in Management and focused on beginning a new career in HR.  He has been a tremendous asset to us in promoting the Advocacy Program here in the state and help coordinate projects for the upcoming Legislative Conference this April.  Connect with him on Linkedin

Many of you have heard about ILSHRM seeking to build an Advocacy Team throughout the state.  Some of us have new representatives that were just sworn into office this past month, so it is a great time to start planning to introduce ourselves and the value that we can bring to them as professionals who represent both, our companies and our employees, rather than a party affiliation.  As I have been talking to people about advocacy I have noticed some of the first questions that come to mind are: 

“How much time is involved?”

“What am I supposed to say to my elected official when I talk to them?”

“What exactly is an advocate anyway?” 

Well, I will start with the last question first.  An Advocate is simply someone willing to establish and maintain a relationship with their local elected official and set themselves up as a support person in the area of HR.  Additionally, as our legislative team sees bills coming that require attention, information will be passed to you to help educate your elected official on how it could impact our field and our people. 

            This takes us right into the next question.  I have heard that it can be intimidating to call or speak in person to our elected officials.  In fact, I was rather intimidated the first time I spoke to one of my legislators in his office, but it has been refreshing to find that they truly want to hear from us. We are their constituents first and foremost; in addition, we represent our companies and our employees.  Often times the conversations start with a simple introduction of ourselves and our profession, and then offering ourselves as a resource for them in the future.  One of the best things we can do is to simply be nice.  We are simply a resource for them in an area where many do not have as much expertise as they would like.

            And now, for the question about time; the next “most valuable commodity of our day” according to some.  To say that many people are overcommitted today would be an understatement.  This is a project that I can comfortably say does not take an exceptional amount of time.  In fact you may likely only get to speak with your official for 15-20 minutes at a time to begin with.  If you will maintain this extension of service about once or twice a quarter the result may surprise you.  The ultimate goal is for us to get to a place that by time the Legislative Conference comes next year we can go to the capital and they will hear our name and come out to say, “Hey Brian, how are you?  What can I do for you?”  Then you will know your time has been well spent!

            As a follow up point…  Don’t forget to say “Thank you.”  We all know what it is like to be worn down by criticism.  For people in office this can be a daily grind that becomes wearisome.  Besides the fact that it is nice to be appreciated, it lets them know you are watching! 

            If this sounds like something that could be exciting for you, or if you would simply like some more information please click here and give us some basic information so that we can follow up and help equip you to be an Advocate!

(Special thanks to Terry Steczo who helped to coach me through each of these points.)

Illinois Legislative Update

Here is the first blog coming, thanks to the assistance of ILSHRM’s blogger in chief, on some proposed legislation in Illinois for 2013 (98^th Session).  We as HR professionals in Illinois, are attempting to become more involved in actions up front to provide information on the impact to our employees of upcoming legislation.  So, as the first few days of introduction of legislation begins – here are some of the things we will be watching:

We are looking forward to input from you (individually or via your chapter legislative chairs) on some of the actions being proposed.  How will it impact your organization?  Should we continue to follow the item?  How can you get more information? Etc. etc.

In the Illinois General Assembly, we have new acts being proposed for use of medical cannabis, the establishment of a Department of Minority and Women Inclusion, and a requirement for hospitals to develop and publish nurse-to-patient staffing ratios to include a description of essential functions (which will take precedence over the Hospital and Nurse Licensing Acts).

Amendments suggested would allow unmarried dependents to be covered until age 29 under medical benefit programs; expand the definition of “minority” in several acts to include those of Middle Eastern origin.  There is also a proposed amendment to the Unemployment Act to delete language on discharge for misconduct regarding requirement of a violation of reasonable rule or policy of unit be deliberate and willful and deletes language requiring an instruction from employing unit be explicit.

In addition there are already three “shell” bills in the House and two in the Senate.  These are proposals for a “technical change” to the existing Act.  The proposed bill acts as a placeholder until enough interest can be garnered for a better description of what is intended.  These are interesting as they can sometimes become the “overnight” actions taken late in the session!

The process is interesting to watch and requires that as HR professionals we step up to provide information to our elected representatives (non-political) on how some of the proposals may impact our organizations and how the issues may be addressed to better meet the goal of the proposal (or, sometimes, why the idea is not a good one because of unexpected implications that were not intended).

This is a good time to remind you of our upcoming Legislative Conference on April 10 and 11 where YOU can learn more about the process – and have an opportunity to meet with your senator or representative in person. Our registration page is here. 

Watch for a legislative update from our lobbyist in the next day or two.

-Kay Titchenal State Government Affairs Director ISC SHRM

Legislative Conference # 3

The Illinois SHRM Group attending ILSHRM Lobby Day 3-27-12

Have you ever attended The First Annual ... fill in the blank here.  I always wonder will there be a 3rd, 4th or 14th for that matter, annual event of the same name - or will it die a quick ugly death because those who started out were not committed enough to the cause to make the event continue.    Well it would appear that some committed folks at Illinois SHRM (Donna Rogers and Tammy Ireland primarily with an honorable mention to John Jorgensen)  have kept the Annual State Legislative Conference alive and moving forward.

Today I attended our third annual event in Springfield. While it did not have the number of attendees that the SHRM National Legislative Event does, we did have 30 people who were in attendance and committed to the cause of having SHRM have a larger legislative presence at the state level.  We started off our day by hearing from a triumvirate of lawyers from the Springfield Firm of Brown Hay & Stephens.  Thanks to Roland Cross, Stephanie Radliff and Kelly Greco for their informative presentations. We then heard from our own hired gun lobbyist Terry Stezco.  Terry spoke to the group and explained the need for and the how to develop a relationship with our legislative representatives.  Terry is going to lobby on our behalf as the needs present themselves, and he is also going to help us position our organization to better advocate for our causes.

David Lusk and Donna Rogers mugging for the camera.

And speaking of advocacy, after lunch we heard from the SHRM A-Team,  with "A" standing for Advocacy. The program is continuing to grow. David Lusk (pictured right) from SHRM National earned his lunch and provided the group with some great reasons to become more involved with the advocacy efforts.  David spoke for about 45 immediately prior to sending the gang off to the Illinois State House.

A group of about 20 walked several block down to the Illinois Capitol with a plan to at least meet and greet their elected representative. What we found out when we arrived was that the Capitol was a busy place.  This week was deadline for bills out of their house of origin.  Some of us met our representatives and senators, while other just took in the process. It is a beginning. We have a long ways to go, but we are on our way.

Thanks to all who attended.

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

Upcoming Illinois Legislative Conference

Last week I attended the annual SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference in DC and visited our states two Senators office and my local congressman's office to discuss health care reform and workplace flexibility in support of SHRMs position. Before the conference started, I also had the opportunity to hear best practices among 48 of our 50 State Legislative Directors who were in the room.  It is absolutely amazing to me what some of the other states are doing from a legislative standpoint (state lobbyist, govt. affairs, state & federal directors, etc.). By comparison, they don't have half as many enacted employment related regulations on the books that Illinois does. We are only beat by California and they were not in the room so I am not sure what they are doing. What are we doing, right now. Well to be honest, NOTHING. However, I personally would like to change that and absolutely need your support.

It is my goal to fund legislative efforts at the state level with the annual Legislative Conference going forward. As we have been preparing for the event (April 12-13) we have discovered almost triple digit bills waiting to be pushed through. Some of them are good for HR and business and some are not. IL State Legislators need to hear from us with regard to those that are not, so they will be less likely to vote them into law.

Illinois is one of 10 states this year that SHRM Government Affairs plans to work with to bring about advocacy in all 19 of our districts. Michael Laymen, SHRM, Govt. Affairs is coming in for our Legislative Conference to not only provide us with a federal update but to train us on how to make those connections and advocate for what we think is right as it affects our everyday life. I hope you will consider joining us in this initial effort. It is of utmost importance that your local legislators hear from you, know you, call on you when they have a question about something that will ultimately affect your job.

Please support the HR Legislative efforts in Illinois by first attending this conference  and second by telling other members and HR professionals about it! We can work together to make a difference in Illinois! As an incentive, the state council will reimburse mileage for one (1) carload of attendees from each chapter. Carpool to save gas, network, and strategize about how you will make a difference. Are you with me?

-Donna Rogers State Director ISC SHRM